October 07, 2009

Al Franken Helps Pass an Amendment That Will Give KBR Rape Victims Their Day in Court

The long and very brave saga of Jamie Leigh Jones, the KBR/Halliburton employee who says that while in Iraq she was “drugged” and “raped in her company barracks by several co-workers"—and whom the company originally tried to prevent from suing by claiming her employment contract’s mandatory arbitration clause actually covered this kind of violent assault—continues to take incredible new turns. First, a federal court refused to allow KBR/Halliburton to force her into arbitration.

And yesterday, newly minted democratic Senator Al Franken's (D-MN) amendment to a defense-spending bill that prohibits “the Defense Department from contracting with companies that require employees to resolve sexual assault allegations and other claims through arbitration” passed the Senate 68-30. Notably, it garnered support from 10 Republican senators, including every female member of the GOP.

Said Jones, who went public with her claim in 2007, "It means that every tear shed to go public and repeat my story over and over again to make a difference for other women was worth it."

"The constitution gives everybody the right to due process of law," Franken said during the debate on the amendment. "And today, defense contractors are using fine print in their contracts do deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court… The victims of rape and discrimination deserve their day in court [and] Congress plainly has the constitutional power to make that happen."

A vote on the full defense bill will come later, but Franken said he fully expects his amendment to remain a part of it.

Comments

30 male,Republican senators voted in opposition to this amendment. This is nothing less than an indictment of the very people who elected them. Signed, sealed, and delivered by the very senator they elected. Good going constituents! Love your moral fiber.

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